The World's Greatest Uncle
by Canada Cowboy
Summary: From an idea I had back in 2001, when SSBM was still a new game. Yoshi's uncle has been nominated for the Honorary Smasher award. Listen to him tell the Smashers his life story. A biographical fic with an OC.
1. Chapter 1

SSBM is owned by Nintendo. I own Yoshi's uncle Brendan.

* * *

It felt like an ordinary morning at the Smasher Mansion, although it certainly wasn't one. The resident dinosaur, Yoshi, seemed to be in an extra cheerful mood today, walking with an extra skip in his step and wearing a large smile across his face. It did not go unnoticed at breakfast, as his friends inquired him of it.

"Ready the occasion, buddy?" Mario, the famous plumber and Yoshi's long time friend asked. His was dressed in his usual red shirt and denim overalls.

The dinosaur turned to his friend. "Today is a special today," he merely replied.

"Do you when he'll get here?" asked Kirby, who, like Yoshi, was one of the younger Smashers in age.

Yoshi turned to the puffball and responded, "Uncle Brendan should be arriving shortly later on to receive his award as the first ever honorary Smasher tomorrow." It was the first of a new trend that everyone, including Master Hand and Crazy Hand, agreed on. Every two years, a lesser known relative or friend of each Smasher would be given an honorary Smasher award, for their service and commitment towards their homeland. For Yoshi, he was basically on Cloud Nine when they announced that his uncle would be the first recipient.

At this time, the Hylian hero and princess stepped up to Yoshi. "I would love to meet your uncle," Link said, "From what I heard from you, he seems to be a fantastic guy. Is it true that despite looking different from most Yoshi's, he actually has the same abilities, except somewhat enhanced?"

"I would like to see how he managed to promote specialties from Yoshi's Island to other lands," Zelda pointed out, "after all, my parents told me that it was your parents and your uncle that promoted the idea. There are starting to be fruits from your place being sold at Hylian markets."

"I would like to hear how he managed to make it to the major leagues," Fox McCloud, an anthropomorphic fox and fighter pilot, chimed in,"he did play ten years of professional baseball, right?"

Yoshi was about to answer all those questions when the doorbell rang. Princess Peach of Mushroom Kingdom immediately got up and answered the door. After a minute or so, she turned around. "Yoshi," she called, "Someone special is here to see you."

Peach stepped aside and revealed the figure. At first glance, he seemed to be like a regular Yoshi, but his body was more dragon-like, comparable to most carnivorous dinosaurs like T Rex. Instead of the usual Yoshi colors, he was mainly a silver-grey, with two thin red lines starting from his nostrils, going through his eyes, and running down the length of his body. And on the ground beside his two feet was a suitcase, packed with some things that he brought to share with everyone. "Where's my favourite nephew?" he asked in a tone deeper and lower in octave than most Yoshi's.

"Uncle Brendan, you're here!" Yoshi shouted, running up to his uncle and giving him a big hug. Yoshi was only about half his uncle's size, which surprised some of his fellow Smashers. Yoshi turned to face everyone, "Ladies and gentlemen, you've heard enough about him from me, but now you get to meet him in person." Yoshi proudly announced, "I'd like to introduce you to my uncle Brendan."

"Actually, I didn't come alone," Uncle Brendan stepped into the mansion, and revealed another large dinosaur behind him; "I'd like you to meet my wife, Ashley."

"Hi, it's an absolute honour to be here." Ashley waved. She, just like Brendan, was a large "realistic" dinosaur, but was more orange-gold in color. Instead of having red lines, she had a wave-like split in color down her sides, with her backside being blue.

Before the Smashers could bombard the couple with questions, Luigi stepped in. "Why don't we show them where they'll stay first?" he suggested, "Then we'll let Yoshi catch up with his uncle and aunt, and let us find out more about them."

* * *

After finding their room and putting away their luggage, Brendan and Ashley came back out and addressed the Smashers. "I know you probably have a lot of questions to ask me," Brendan began, "so I'm planning to spend all day telling you about myself."

Samus Aran, the android bounty hunter, raised her hand fro the first question. "How come you and your wife look different than most Yoshi's?"

"It's a rare genetic condition that changes our growth and appearance, which can make us have enhanced skills and brain power," he explained, "I'm pretty sure it's a natural condition, but you'll have to ask the local doctor for a confirmation." Brendan nodded his head at the moustachioed man in a white lab coat.

"It's definitely a natural genetic mutation, but chemical factors in the environment may cause its frequency to increase," Dr. Mario added, "I've never really studied this condition a lot, so I can't pinpoint its source or determine whether it is hereditary."

"But you are born on Yoshi's Island, are you not?" Marth, a swordsman, inquired.

"Yes, I was. In fact, both my wife and I were born there, but my family moved to San Francisco thirty-two years ago, when I was ten," Brendan replied.

"So what was it like moving from your home island to San Francisco?" Roy, another swordsman, asked.

"Well, it's like this…"

"_Come on, Brendan! You're going to be late if you don't come down."_

_Ten-year-old Brendan trudged down the stairs. It was his first day of school, and he was clearly unimpressed and unwilling to go. "Mom, what if the people there don't like me? I don't know if I can…"_

"_Hush now," his mother silenced, "it's very rare that you and your brother were tested to have the abilities to attend school like this, so you should take this chance." Brendan was to attend grade five, while his older brother, who was two years older than him, would attend grade seven. "As for your classmates, I'm sure with time you'll make some friends." His mother looked him in the eyes, "Trust me on this?" she pleaded._

_Brendan nodded, breathing out a huge sigh. He grabbed his lunch bag, shoved it into his backpack, and trudged out the door._

_Contrary to popular belief, the bus ride was not where most of the "terror" resided, as Brendan mainly kept to himself the entire duration. When the bus screeched to a halt, Brendan glanced out at his destination: a large, two-story building made of brick. Bravely, he got off the bus and marched in._

_Brendan went to the office to pick up his classroom location and schedules. Standing before the head secretary, Brendan glanced nervously around, hoping there was something, anything that he could take shelter in. It didn't help that there was no talking by anyone in the office, making Brendan feel alone and isolated. The only sound came from the wall, where the clock ticked away at each second, which felt like years for the young dinosaur._

_Finally, the secretary turned back to the front desk and handed him a schedule. Speaking in a monotone voice, she explained to Brendan what class he was in and what material was expected to be covered in the course. But to Brendan, it seemed almost like the words breezed past his head, as he was so nervous that nothing was being absorbed. "Do you understand?" he heard the secretary ask him, peering from behind her glasses._

_Brendan nodded weakly before taking the schedule. "Th-thanks," he uttered, shoving it into his bag before scurrying out of the office. He filed through the maze-like hallways of the school, before finally reaching the door of his classroom. "Well, here goes nothing," he murmured, and raised a hand to knock on the door._

* * *

"So what happened next?" Captain Falcon, the resident racecar driver, inquired.

"You mean, did they throw eggs at me?" Brendan retorted, getting some chuckles from his audience for the self-deprecating humour. "To be honest, no. It wasn't as harsh as I thought it was, and within a month or so, I did manage to fit in. I did make a couple of friends, but unfortunately, also an enemy…"

"_Trevor, Mandy, how's it going?" Brendan greeted his two friends. Trevor and Mandy were both in his class, and got along with Brendan the best. They were siblings with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Trevor wore glasses while Mandy usually wore a turquoise headband. Ever since the first day, they had been very helpful to Brendan, letting him adjust to the school and always keeping him company. Soon, they became good friends with the young dinosaur, and often hung out together at recess._

"_I'm doing well," Trevor replied, "did you manage to get those homework math problems from yesterday? I was having some trouble with them."_

"_Yeah, they were kind of hard," Mandy added._

_Brendan was about to reply when he was interrupted. "So you were the dinosaur man that the others were talking about," he heard a gruff voice growled from behind him. Brendan turned around and faced a larger male student who was half-a-head taller than Trevor and Mandy. He had dirty blond hair that hung down to his eyes, forming a strange set of bangs. But behind the bangs were a set of eyes that Brendan could only describe as a combination of hatred and aggression, neither of which he wanted to face._

_Nevertheless, Brendan tried to stay clam. Maybe if he acted in a friendly way, he could get out of it unharmed. "Uh, yeah…I'm Brendan, and you are?" he asked, extending his hand to the stranger for a handshake. _

_The student rudely slapped his hand away. "Save it, punk," he said in a menacing voice, "I'll have you know that the last thing I want is to be anywhere with you."_

_Brendan was about to reply when Trevor stepped between them. "We're not trying to cause trouble here, so why don't you back off?" he snapped, jabbing his finger into the bully's chest._

_Mandy took this time to pull Brendan back. "I'd save your remark for him if I were you," she warned Brendan, "that's Dave from the class next door. He's been known to be trouble since grade three."_

"_Oh, so you think you're so tough, wise guy?" Dave shouted, shoving Trevor backwards into Mandy. At this time, Brendan felt enough was enough, and stepped up to Dave again._

"_Look, man, Trevor did nothing to you, and I don't appreciate you trying to pick on me either. So are you going to knock it off or what?" Brendan challenged._

_Dave smirked. "So dino-boy decided to take a stand? Well, you ain't seen nothing from me yet." In a fell swoop, he shoved Brendan off his feet and drove him backwards. As they neared a trash can, Dave reached across Brendan's body and upended him, causing him to fall head-first into the trash can. THUD! "That's what you get for messing with me," Dave shouted, walking away as Brendan struggled to free himself._

_Brendan's legs kicked in the air as his head was lodged in the trash. The stench of the garbage filled up his nostrils as he tried to break free. He pushed against the mushy waste below, only to have himself become even more lodged in the can. "Somebody, anybody, help please?" he pleaded, his voice muffled by the metal layer._

* * *

"I'll have you know that it wasn't exactly a fun experience, being stuffed into a trash can like that," Brendan told the Smashers, a look of embarrassment on his face.

"Isn't there anyone you could turn to for help on this? Teachers, parents, peers, anyone at all?" Mario asked.

"Teachers weren't too much of help, and most of the other students were either too afraid to stand up to him or didn't want to get involved," Brendan replied, "Trevor and Mandy told me to try and live with it, kind of like 'turn the other cheek,' since Dave wasn't going anywhere. For that, I ended up getting my lunch shoved into my face. Both my parents and my brother, Yoshi's father whom we will address as Yoshi Sr. from now on to avoid confusion, both told me to ignore him and not get his attention. That resulted in a yank on the tail so hard that I could feel my spine elongate."

Mewtwo, who until this time stood at the back with his arms cross, finally spoke up. "If I were you, I'd give Dave the whooping of his life," he suggested, "after all, you and I are very alike. We're both genetically modified individuals of our own species, with those modifications resulting in enhanced abilities." Mewtwo cocked his head, "So why didn't you do it? What stopped you from creaming him?"

"Actually, I was just getting there. You see, a doctor's check-up gave me the perfect idea for fulfilling that purpose. Our family doctor, Dr. Mario Sr., father of the current Dr. Mario, found out that my original Yoshi abilities, such as the tongue attack and the egg bomb, are not only enhanced, but develop faster than usual."

"_This means Brendan would have pretty much the same abilities with the same effects as you do, but only he's still a child. It's possible that they may enhance greatly as he goes through his growth phase, but right now I'm just not sure," Dr. Mario Sr. explained as Brendan's parents nodded._

"_Same abilities…enhance greatly…growth…hmm…" Brendan muttered to himself. It could just be a way to deal with his problem; after all, Dave just shoved him into a locker last week, why not get some payback? Brendan did learn most of a Yoshi's regular traits and could use them quite well. "I'll do it," he decided with a smile. Suddenly, going to school did not seem so scary anymore._


	2. Chapter 2

1st chapter had 17 hits, by so far no reviews. I'll try to be patient and keep writing…maybe more will show up as I keep going.

SSBM is owned by Nintendo. I own Yoshi's uncle Brendan.

_Italics_ means the flashback sequence.

* * *

Brendan paused briefly to collect his thoughts. This was a rather interesting story in his life. "For me, the timing and cooperation had to be perfect," he explained, "I wanted to get him back once and for all." He flipped through the photo album that he had brought out of his suitcase earlier, and showed the Smashers all those pictures from his elementary school days as he told them his story.

But one in particular that he paused at the most was the one right next to the basketball courts, where Dave usually hung out. One of Dave's favourite things to do in his attempts to belittle others was to steal people's basketballs when they missed a shot. He'd pretend to shoot it better, keeping the ball away from the players with his height and strength advantage. When all the people around him got annoyed, he'd launch the ball into the field, forcing them to go fetch it. Those who confronted him regarding this move would usually end up with a fist in the face, so rarely did anyone speak up about it.

"So, what did happen? Did your plan work?" Yoshi asked his uncle.

Brendan smiled. "Well, I'll tell you…"

"_Tell me," Trevor began, "how did you ever talk us into doing this?"_

_Brendan was about to reply when he saw Dave lumbering towards their direction. "No time to talk, get into positions."_

_Within seconds, Dave was right in Brendan's face. "So what's this I hear about you saying stuff about me? You're going around telling everyone how I'm a chicken that picks on others and wouldn't dare to compete against you?" Dave demanded, "Since when did you become so tough, thinking you can challenge me?"_

_Brendan did not back down at all. "I call them as I see them, and I stand by my words. If you're not a chicken, then you don't need to push people around. Furthermore, you pick on me just because I'm different, meaning you're truly a coward and are scared of those who aren't like you!" Brendan replied defiantly, "You picked the wrong guy to mess with, and I'm about to prove it to you. From now on, back off or you'll be sorry."_

_The tension was starting to mount, as a fight seemed inevitable. Many students marched to the courtyard to see the number one bully take on the dinosaur. A semi-circle formed around them as the showdown of a lifetime was about to unfold. The more people to see this the better, Brendan thought. Turning back to the bully, he glared him straight in the eye. The intensity in which they glared at each other made it seem like sparks were about to shoot out of each person's eyes. "I won't say it again, Dave," Brendan warned, "leave now, and everything will be forgotten."_

_Dave seemed to have lost it after that statement. He gave Brendan a two-handed shove to the chest, causing the dinosaur to fall backwards. Brendan barely kept his balance when Dave lunged forward, ready to give him a barrage of punches and kicks. Some students held their breaths while others turned away to avoid seeing the attacks._

_But oddly, nothing connected, as a long tongue with a sticky end shot out and attached itself onto Dave's gut. Everyone, including Dave, was surprised to see this. He grabbed onto Brendan's tongue, trying hard to yank it off. Unfortunately for him, it was stuck pretty well. Dave stared at Brendan, shocked at the event before him, only to see Brendan return with a nonchalant expression. At this time, Trevor and Mandy jumped out and snapped photographs with their cameras. "Hey, what gives?" Dave shouted, still pulling on the tongue. _

_But the harder he yanked, the more it seemed to stick, the light red rope-like object stretched and pulled like an elastic band. No matter what the bully did, he could not get the tongue off his chest. Seeing that he had his target right where he wanted, Brendan decided to finish the manoeuvre. He bobbed slightly forward, and then snapped his neck back to pull his tongue into his mouth. Dave, still attached to the tongue, was yanked into Brendan's mouth. Every student gawked in surprise._

_Brendan made a "gulp" sound as he finished swallowing. Everybody looked at him in shock as his stomach rumbled a few times, presumably with Dave struggling in it. Within seconds, he turned around and he aimed his tail skyward. Suddenly, a polka-dotted egg popped out from his backend and landed on the pavement. PLOP!_

_Trevor and Mandy kept snapping away as Brendan looked around to see more surprised expressions. Even the playground supervisor, who was now making her way towards them, seemed unsure as to what should be done. "Don't worry, Dave will be out of there in a few minutes or so," Brendan assured the crowd, "he'll live."_

_He then turned to Trevor and Mandy, who just finished taking their photos. "Once you have those developed, show me what they're like," he instructed, "we'll pick the best one and submit it to the yearbook crew. Hopefully, we'll have it published on every yearbook at the end of the year." Turning to the crowd, he posed and shouted, "Thank you, everyone. Brendan has just left the playground." With that, he marched off._

"Now that was amazing!" Mario exclaimed as his fellow Smashers all applauded.

Brendan smiled. "Actually, I did get a warning from the principal for that move, but no 'real' punishment. As for everyone else, I think I did them a huge favour, because Dave never bothered anyone anymore. He's still outspoken, but no real harm was done."

"Why didn't I try something like that on Mido when he bullied me?" Young Link wondered aloud. Mido was a Kokiri who used to bully him mercilessly.

"Maybe because your tongue didn't stick to him," Ness, a young psychic, pointed out, "or maybe because you needed to learn how to lay eggs first." Upon hearing that, their group of friends, which included the Ice Climbers, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, and the two-dimensional Mr. Game and Watch, all howled in laughter.

Brendan flipped through a few more pages of his childhood days, showing them more thing he did when he went to elementary school. After a few minutes, he rubbed his hands together and asked. "Anybody else got something they want to know about me?"

Fox McCloud raised his hand. "I heard you were quite a baseball star," he asked, "what inspired you to play the sport and what was your first experience with it like?"

Brendan was about to begin when Kirby interrupted. "I don't mean to be rude, but I'm kind of hungry, and they are serving lunch real soon. Can you tell it after we eat?"

* * *

After lunch, the crowd gathered again in the living room, ready to hear Brendan tell his baseball story. Not surprisingly, the Smashers that consumed the most food were the usual suspects: Donkey Kong, Mario, Kirby, and Yoshi. "And I thought I was a big eater when I was younger," Brendan pointed out, "you guys totally out-ate me."

The crowd chuckled. "So anyway, when and how did you encounter baseball? Did you play the sport when you were younger?" Luigi asked.

"In fact, I did," Brendan replied. Opening his photo album again, he flipped to the pages of his life after elementary school and focusing on specifically his secondary school days, "My first encounter with baseball took place a couple of years after the last story I told. Trevor, Mandy and I were all in grade seven…"

_Brendan, Trevor and Mandy strode across the field at lunch break when something interesting caught Brendan's eye. It was some type of sport, as there was a person standing on some sort of elevated mound throwing a ball. It was at another person standing right across from him, who attempted to hit it with a weird looking stick._

_Brendan stood there for a few minutes, completely mesmerized by the sport. He did not even notice that Trevor and Mandy walked off, only to notice that he was not there, and now marched back to fetch him. "Why did you stop?" Mandy demanded._

_Brendan raised a hand to silence her. Right as he did that, the pitcher delivered a fastball down the middle, and the hitter swung hard at it. The ball sailed through the air and landed deep into the field, and the hitter shot out of his position and charged down the path. He made a sharp left turn after stepping on a white plate, and continued sprinting as the ball was picked up by a fielder. He threw it at another fielder standing near the plate the runner was headed towards. Just as the ball reached the fielder, the runner slid feet first into the plate. "Safe!" Brendan heard someone yell._

_The hitter's teammates at the bench all clapped and cheered, as the ball was thrown back to the pitcher, who prepared to face another hitter. At this time, Brendan spoke up. "What is it that they're playing?" he asked Trevor and Mandy._

"_That's baseball. The guy throwing now is the pitcher, and he wants the hitting team out. If he prevents hitters from successfully reaching base three times, his team will hit and the hitting team will pitch and field," Trevor explained as Brendan nodded._

_As some of their other friends showed up, Brendan asked a few more questions and ended up learning quite a bit about the sport. Although he understood the theory behind it, he was unsure as to how way he would fare should he be playing. "Why don't we ever play the sport?" Brendan asked._

"_Are you kidding? None of us are athletic enough. If we go against those guys, we'll get hammered for sure!" Trevor retorted._

_Brendan remained unconvinced. Surely there was a way for not just himself, but all his friends to get better at it. So, after some coaxing, he convinced all of them to at least give the sport a chance. "I didn't come this far into the baseball diamond just to see us not make it at the sport," he told his friends determinedly, "if those guys can play that well, then at the very least we should try to be like them."_

_A week later, they brought some equipment and were taking fielding and battling practice. None of them chose to start a real game yet, as their experience in the sport was very limited. Brendan might be taking each catch and throw seriously, making sure both him and his friends were involved, but he kept on sneaking glances at the other guys._

* * *

"So when did anyone notice that you were picking up the sport, and actually gave you a chance?" Donkey Kong asked.

"It would be about a month later, when we were actually starting to hit better. Mandy threw one at me that was right at the centre of the plate, and I cranked it all the way to the other baseball field, where the original group of athletes were playing," Brendan explained with a shrug, "I think they noticed not because I hit it that well, but because it almost took someone's head off. That thing was an absolute line drive." He chuckled as everyone looked at his picture of him playing on the baseball diamond.

"And how was your first game with the so-called 'big boys'?" Captain Falcon asked, "Did they find it awkward to have a dinosaur playing with them?"

"They found it more awkward that for such a great hit, I couldn't produce anything at all," Brendan sighed, "I went zero hits in four at-bats with three strike-outs. It also didn't help that they put me in right field, a position for people who couldn't play defence. There were some positives though, as they were impressed with my speed, and my fielding abilities, for someone in right field, were pretty solid."

"_You got some potential there, but right now you're still a step behind," one of the baseball players told Brendan, "keep it up and you'll make the team real soon."_

_Brendan nodded glumly. He wasn't exactly happy with his performance, one that not only embarrassed him before these athletes, but caused some laughs within his own friends as well. "Before you start, the answer is no, I will not take up golf!" Brendan insisted, looking at his friends, most of whom had large grins plastered on their faces. Knowing how he batted, Brendan doubted he would live it down regarding his hitting._

_Mandy put a hand on Brendan's shoulder. "No worries, it was your first time. You'll get it sooner or later."_

_But "getting it sooner or later" wasn't good enough for Brendan. In fact, he spent his entire summer practicing the fundamentals of baseball, starting with hitting, where he asked his brother to pitch to him. He later on moved to running bases, working on sliding and stealing bases. He even worked on his fielding, despite that being his strong suit, as his brother hit balls to him and he tried to run them down. By the next school year, he was much more confident in his abilities._

"_Brendan, are you sure about this?" Mandy asked hesitantly._

"_Guys, trust me. It won't be anything like last year. I've improved on my skills already, so can you please let me go for it?" the dinosaur pleaded to his friends. It was the spring season, which meant sign-ups for the baseball team were available. Brendan was eager to prove that his efforts did not go to waste, but his friends were unconvinced._

_Brendan sighed, defeated in the fact that he could not convince his friends to endorse him. Picking up a pen with his left hand, he scribbled his name onto the list. Try-outs were to commence throughout the next week, with the final team posted in three. He knew it would be difficult for a newcomer like him to make it, let alone be a starter, but he was confident that his abilities would bring him far._

* * *

"So how did you fare?" Falco Lombardi, a pilot who flew on Fox's team, asked, "How far into the try-outs did you last, or did you go all the way?"

"Believe it or not, I actually went all the way into the last round of cuts," Brendan answered, "but I wasn't put onto the final roster. I was somewhat satisfied that I went so far despite being a first time player. But still, I wasn't happy knowing that I gave it my all only to fall short just before the final roster was announced. I wanted to know what I did wrong, so afterwards, I went to talk to the coach."

"_To be frank, there was nothing wrong with your fielding. You had very good catching skills and know how to use your speed to your advantage," the coach explained, "but I couldn't get a hold of you erratic hitting. It was too inconsistent, and it negates your good speed which we could use as a leadoff hitter. You can't wreak havoc on the base paths unless you could get on base first, right?"_

"_But couldn't you just put me lower in the order while making adjustments to my batting?" Brendan countered._

"_We already have a good left-handed hitting leadoff hitter, so there's no need to saturate the top of the order with lefties. Besides, we don't know what position to put you in." the coach sighed, "Being left-handed meant you can only play in limited positions. You've got speed, meaning center or left field would work for you, but both those spots are occupied by guys that made the all-star team last year. You arm is too weak to play right field, you don't stretch well enough to play first base, and you aren't interested in pitching. Where else can you play?"_

_Brendan left, dejected. He would tell Trevor and Mandy of this during their next few days together, and although both were sympathetic, neither knew what to do to help their friend. "If only we knew more about the sport, we would be there to give you a hand," they told him while they sat together at the cafeteria for lunch._

_At this time, one of the baseball players stepped up to him. "Brendan, I'm Hank," he introduced himself. He wore a sports jacket and had dark brown hair that ended in a small mullet. "I want to personally shake your hand, it wasn't an easy try-out. You did what you had to but it was just too bad that you got cut at the last round."_

_Brendan was suspicious at the stranger, but eventually he took Hank's hand. But then Hank said something Brendan could not believe. "But really, this is a sport for the big boys. Rookies like you belong in the minor leagues!" Hank teased._


	3. Chapter 3

I hope I haven't made Brendan too much of a "Gary-Stu", since I haven't fully addressed any of his flaws. I will attempt to do so in this chapter, please tell me what you think.

SSBM is owned by Nintendo. I own Yoshi's uncle Brendan.

_Italics_ means the flashback sequence.

* * *

"Ouch! That was a totally mean thing to say," Samus commented. The other Smashers all nodded their heads in agreement. It was obvious that Brendan got severely burned by Hank's remark.

Brendan shrugged again. "There wasn't much to do about it. He was on the team and I wasn't. I seriously considered punching him after he said that, but Trevor and Mandy did a pretty good job of restraining me. I was bitter about it the entire week, but thanks to advice from my brother, I managed to live through it."

"Wait, my dad gave you advice? He never told me he knew how to play baseball!" Yoshi exclaimed.

"It wasn't baseball advice, Yoshi," Brendan assured his young nephew, "Yoshi Sr. gave me some life advice, something that I will never forget for the rest of my life. Do you guys want to hear it?"

_"His comment was totally uncalled for, and you know it!" Brendan shouted._

_"Look, just clam down and listen to me," Yoshi Sr. said to his younger brother. They were in Brendan's room at the time, and Brendan was involved in another temper tantrum as a result of a discussion involving school sports, especially baseball. In recent day, anytime Hank or baseball was mentioned, Brendan's mood would go foul. _

_But this time, Yoshi Sr. would end this trend once and for all. "I know you're not happy about being cut, and Hank's taunting didn't really help, but just listen for a sec." Brendan fumed, glaring at his brother. It was unsure who Brendan was truly angry with, Hank for making unnecessary remarks or Yoshi Sr. for interfering. _

_Sensing a need for calm, Yoshi Sr. took a deep breath and began, "I know what I'm about to say will probably make you hate me, but it's for your own good in the long term. Whatever decision the coach made with regards to the team is totally his call, and there's nothing you can do about it. Although I don't condone Hank's words, and I do find them hurtful, that's no excuse for you to get all worked up." Older brother stared into little brother's eyes, making sure Brendan accepted every word he said._

_Brendan was about to protest, but Yoshi Sr. raised a hand to stop him. "That's been your biggest flaw so far, not being able to get back up after being knocked down. So with all due respect, Brendan, my advice for you is to focus on your own efforts. That is the only thing you have control over. Improve on your own skills so much that when you try out next year, the coach will have no choice but to put you on the team. We have another summer ahead of us, right? I'll be willing to help you with your hitting."_

_Brendan looked up at his brother. "You're right, bro. I should prove it with my actions on the field, not getting upset over what some lunatic says," he agreed, "But it doesn't mean I'll let Hank off the hook, because I'll still try to challenge him next year."_

_True to his word, Brendan worked extra hard in the summer with his brother to improve his hitting skills. It started with a simple underhand toss, where Yoshi Sr. would loft a ball in Brendan's direction and had Brendan time the pitch to make a perfect hit at the right time. Brendan's patience paid off, as he slowly built his abilities up so that he could hit any type of pitch, and knew what pitch to not swing at. Later, Brendan even gained the ability to hit balls in every direction, giving him more chances to potentially get on base. Before long, his skills were much improved, to the point where Yoshi Sr. declared that he could no longer coach him. "The student's now the master," he said._

_His efforts were not unnoticed by the baseball team, as he managed to earn a spot as a back-up outfielder the next season. Unfortunately, it was the back-up center fielder to the starting center fielder Hank. "Just because you made the team doesn't mean you get to play," the all-star taunted, "but you should still be grateful to specifically play as my back-up, since I don't let some no-name back me up."_

_Brendan did not let this comment get to him. Instead, he focused on improving his own skills. Soon, he got starts in the other two outfield positions, and periodically replaced the original left-handed lead-off hitter in his starts. Other teams were beginning to notice his skills, and were being more careful when pitching to him._

"Playing in a platoon situation in right field and left field gave me more playing time, but Hank still had a strangle-hold on the starting center field job," Brendan told everyone as he showed a picture of his high school baseball uniform, "that is, until we met a left-handed pitcher that the team struggled against last year."

"Wait," Ness interrupted, "this is during your freshman year in high school, right? How can your team struggle against him when this is most of the people's first time playing at this level?" he asked.

"I play on the junior team of the school, which meant freshmen and sophomore," Brendan replied, "most people that played this southpaw remembered him from junior high, and some of those who didn't played him on varsity. He was especially tough on left-handed hitters, and had good technique to pick off base stealers. Again, I was asked to lead off due to my great speed, but we wanted to stack the team with as many righties as possible. That gave me an idea that, if successful, would make me a starter for good."

* * *

_"Coach, can I try something new?" Brendan asked as he was taking some hitting practice. The starting line-up has yet to be written, but Brendan was convinced that he could do something to improve his team's chances for this game._

_The coach nodded, moving towards the batting cage to see what his lead-off hitter had to offer. Suddenly, Brendan turned around and began to hit right-handed, raising the coach's eyebrows. "Uh, Brendan, that's usually not preferable for newcomers."_

_"It's alright, I've been practicing this for the last little while now," Brendan assured his coach, "I know our opposing pitcher isn't as tough on right-handed hitters, so if it works, it may give us a chance to win." He tried to hit at another pitch, this time making contact and sending a line drive into left-center field. _

_The coach watched for a couple more minutes, watching Brendan send pitch after pitch into the outfield. The elegant curves and rainbow arches formed by the balls being hit were not as smooth as that of a natural righty, but it still suggested that Brendan had some skills with being right-handed. The coach truly felt that Brendan, despite being a natural lefty, might have the potential to be a switch hitter. Since this would give him one more right-handed hitter on the team, the risk might be worth taking. Quietly, he picked up his line-up sheet and scribbled down some names. By the time the game was to start, he announced the starters to the team. Oddly, one name not mentioned was Hank's._

"_Coach, why am I not starting in center field?" Hank asked in the dug-out, "you gave the job to Brendan today."_

"_You may throw right-handed, but you're a left-handed hitter, and I want more right-handed hitting today," he replied, "besides, you were struggling with the bat last week, so I thought you need to take a seat. The best players play, remember?"_

_Hank was about to protest when the first batter was asked to take the plate. It was Brendan, and to the team's surprise, he batted right-handed. Some players, Hank included, were sceptical of this move by their teammate. "Brendan has never hit right-handed before," Hank protested, "and you let him bat lead-off?"_

_Before there was even a response, Brendan took a swing at a waist-high fastball and belted it over the left field fence. BLAM! It was a lead-off home run and a 1-0 lead, causing the entire team to jump up and celebrate._

_By the time the game was over, Brendan had collected three hits, one of which was a double, and a stolen base. Although their team still lost 5-7, Brendan had gained valuable experience hitting right-handed, and his performance impressed most players, even some from the other team. Now he felt ready to get tips on becoming a switch hitter. "You had a slight uppercut in your right swing, which may make you pop balls up if you're not careful," the coach advised as Brendan listened closely, learning the skills. Soon, Brendan was a full-time switch hitter, and earning himself a starting outfield job._

"Unfortunately, me starting meant someone must be benched, and that happened to be Hank," Brendan recalled, "basically, his hitting was mediocre for most of the year, which led to less playing time. He wasn't happy with the decision, and did some whining about it. He took my old spot, being the utility outfielder and platoon with others."

"I'm pretty sure that wasn't the end of him, since he still had some skills," Mewtwo raised the point, "did he hold a grudge against you, and picked on you whenever he had the chance? Or did you two manage to work things out amongst yourselves?"

"We didn't exactly become friends, as there was still that rivalry between us," Brendan answered, "but by our senior year, it pretty much fizzled out and we just played as teammates. That would lead us to my days in college, where I further pursued my baseball career, as well as work on getting a degree."

Brendan put the photo album away and reached for another one. The first few pages showed his final days in high school, where he went through his graduation ceremony with most of his friends. According to Brendan, it was also the last he had heard of Trevor and Mandy. "They had places to go, and ended up moving away from the Bay Area. I kind of regret not getting their contacts, but I had pursued university as well, so it wasn't long before I had to be on the move," Brendan explained.

"I assume you didn't stay in San Francisco during those years?" Link asked.

"Both my brother and I left San Francisco during this time. He left two years before me, and went to University of California Berkeley, right across the bay, while I went to UCLA. Both of us went on full scholarship, and both of us studied business." Brendan leaned back. "You know, that was also the time when I met Ashley."

Everyone in the room had their eyes alternate between Brendan and Ashley, the eyeballs shifting back and forth like a metronome. They knew from Yoshi that the two had been a long love story in the making, but nobody realized just how it started exactly. Only a slight clearing of the throat by Yoshi did everybody snap back to attention.

Husband and wife chuckled as they stared at the crowd. "Believe me, it's more embarrassing for me than it is for you, the way I first met her," he described.

* * *

_"Wow, I don't think I'll ever get this done," Brendan groaned to himself in the library. Apart from baseball practice, he also had multiple assignments from his courses to focus on. He had to admit that at first, it was hard to convert his focus from hitting a fastball to understanding supply and demand. "Looks like it'll be an all-nighter again," he mumbled as he opened another book._

_It was nearing closing time at the library as Brendan glanced up at the clock. It seemed like he may have to finish his assignment back in the dorm, or at least wake up extra early the next morning. He looked around to see if there was anybody left in the library, when suddenly an unusual sight caught his eye. Two tables before him was another reptilian-like figure, turning around to leave. "There's another genetically-mutated Yoshi in UCLA? I thought I was the only one." Brendan muttered to himself. He got up to follow the figure, but soon lost track as that person exited the library._

_Undaunted, Brendan tried again the next day, entering the library at around the same time and taking the same seat. He looked around, hoping to see the mysterious stranger again. Every time he sat at his seat, he positioned his books and bag on the table like a fortress, making it possible to hide his face while taking quick peeks over it. It felt like trench warfare for him, as he wanted to shoot glances at all those around him, but in turn preventing others from realizing what he was doing._

_A week had passed, and still he had no luck. "Even odder," Brendan mumbled to himself, "was I seeing things that day? I mean, it was rather dark…" He picked up some books from his locker and hurried off the class. By the time he made it to the lecture hall, he still had a couple of minutes left, so he took a seat in the center rows and opened his notebook. He was about to take a pencil out when he saw the person he was looking for: the Yoshi from the library, sitting a few seats to the right and about five rows forward. _

_He took a closer look and figured that it was a female Yoshi, with a blue back and golden-orange underbelly. He was about to approach her and maybe talk to her, but the professor entered the lecture hall and was about to start class, so he decided to wait. There has got to be a chance for me to talk to her, he thought._

_Brendan did not really have his attention set to the professor or the lecture material, as he was more focused on the female Yoshi sitting a few rows in front of him. After class, he even followed her into the student center and food court, and stayed around watching her until it was time to go to his next class._

"So how long did this last for?" Peach asked, as the Smashers tried to hide their snickers, finding Brendan's story of meeting his wife comical beyond belief.

"It lasted a week or two, I couldn't keep my eyes off her," Brendan confessed, "I mean, there wasn't really any female Yoshi's around where I lived, let alone one that had a condition similar to mine, so I couldn't help but feel a bit attracted to her."

"Question for Ashley," Zelda asked as she raised her hand, "did you notice that he was spying or stalking you the entire time?"

Ashley laughed at the question. "Genetic mutations meant all individuals affected by the change have the same symptoms, and that means I have the enhanced abilities just like he has," she explained, "so to answer your question, yes, I noticed him. But since he seemed to be quite harmless at the time, I didn't push the issue. I had to admit that it was a bit irritating, though." Ashley gave her now-husband a playful shot to the shoulder.

"So when did you finally had enough and decided to approach him on this issue?" Luigi demanded, "The story has got to continue from here, right?"

"Actually, I finally confronted him in probably the worst time ever," Ashley recalled, "it was one of those times when we were in the library again, and he was on the phone. It was probably one of the most embarrassing moments of his life."

* * *

"_I don't know, bro, I think I'm falling for her," Brendan said into the phone. Taking a break from another late-night work session, he went to the nearest pay phone and gave his brother in Berkeley a call. He always confided in his brother whenever he had a difficult issue to deal with, so maybe he could give him some advice on love. _

_Unfortunately, Yoshi Sr. had no good advice for Brendan, except to ask him to talk to her directly. "She's your love interest, so the best way to deal with it is probably to approach her," he explained, "even if she says no, at least your mind's at ease."_

"_How? Go up and say, 'Hey! I was stalking you for the last two weeks. Want to go on a date with me?' I'll probably get my teeth knocked out!" Brendan exclaimed, waving his arms in desperation. He was probably loud enough that those within a short distance from him could hear very clearly what he conveyed on the phone._

_At this time, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He whipped his head around, and received the shock of his life. It was the very Yoshi that he mentioned on the phone, standing right before him! "A word with you please?" she requested._

_Brendan was so surprised that he drop the phone, making the receiver land on the platform with a loud clang. He stammered and sweated, trying to get himself out of this jam as he felt like a suspect being put in an interrogation room. _

_However, the female Yoshi did not relent. Staring him straight in the eye, she spoke to him in a clear voice, "Don't think I haven't noticed, but you were following me around the last two weeks. Since you're going to stare at me, and I'm interested in meeting some new people in my classes, we might as well skip to the introductions." She extended her hand. "My name's Ashley, what's yours?"_

_Brendan was stunned for a minute, while his brother was shouting on the other side of the line. When Brendan finally snapped out of it, he pulled the phone back to his face. "Can I call you back?" he asked his brother._


	4. Chapter 4

I finally got my first review from **Retchaka**, I have already replied giving my thanks for the review. Now the rest of you need to step up and write me some reviews as well. I know that biographical fics are a bit dry and boring but you should leave some comments nonetheless. I welcome ALL your comments and WILL READ ALL REVIEWS!

As for the story, this chapter I will attempt to write some romance, something I usually struggle at writing. If you're reviewing, please go easy, or at least be constructive.

SSBM is owned by Nintendo. I own Yoshi's uncle Brendan.

_Italics_ means the flashback sequence.

* * *

From their angle, the Smashers could see that there was a tint of red streaking across Brendan's face. It was obvious that even today he was embarrassed about the first meeting with his wife. "What was your initial reaction?" Marth asked the large dinosaur.

"Shocked and embarrassed at first, then relieved, knowing that I can finally get the chance to talk to her," Brendan explained while looking at his wife, who turned away with a blush and hidden smile, "I think we both got a huge load off our backs when we finally got to converse."

"So what were your first days together like? I mean, you two are still getting to know each other, so how did you guys manage to get along?" Roy raised the point.

"For starters, we're not hopeless romantics," Ashley answered, "we were aware of the fact that we need to work on getting used to each other first before moving forward with anything, and we're willing to take smaller steps."

"_Hi, can I, uh, sit next to you?" Ashley asked as Brendan looked up from his notes. It was about a week after the library encounter, and both sides still found it odd to speak to each other. There was still the usual "Hi, how are you doing?" greeting, but a real conversation was still uneasy to come by._

"_So, uh, how are your courses coming?" Brendan asked nervously, "Assignments and projects keeping you busy as usual?"_

"_Uh, yeah, very busy," she stammered with a chuckle, "you as well?"_

_Brendan nodded but said nothing. There was a strange silence for a minute or so, the only sounds coming from the other students coming into the lecture hall. Ashley tried to look around at the other students, while Brendan lowered his head pretending to read his notes. When that became too uncomfortable, they resorted to looking through their bags, rifling through their things like a treasure hunt. In reality, neither side was looking for anything in particular; they just wanted to get away from the odd conversation._

_Soon neither side could take it anymore. "This is really awkward!" they shouted together. That got a reaction from some people sitting around them, as the two dinosaurs got a lot of stares. Horrified at that, they tried to divert the attention by turning back to what they did before; Brendan went back to flipping through his notebook, while Ashley now produced a couple of pencils from her bag. Luckily, the professor stepped into the room at this time, and lecture was about to begin._

_Brendan and Ashley usually headed their separate ways when class was over, but this time they chose to hang out with each other. They took a slow walk around campus, stepping out of the school buildings and enjoyed the fresh air. With the busy hallways of the building replaced by surrounding vegetation, both sides seemed refreshed by their new surroundings. "So, are you really from L.A.?" Brendan asked as they strolled along._

"_My family moved here when I was fourteen, and I attended high school here. We lived near the Chinatown district, so we were exposed to a lot of Asian culture. Believe it or not, I actually picked up a few lines of Cantonese hanging around the neighbourhood, although I'm not fluent yet," she turned to her friend, "What about you?"_

"_Same story as yours, but my family moved to San Francisco instead, and lived there since I was ten. I originally came on a scholarship for the business faculty, but now I'm getting into athletics as well, mainly baseball," Brendan replied, "I have a brother who is also doing business, but he's at UC Berkeley." _

_Grabbing a nearby bench, the two dinosaurs sat down as they continued their journeys into each others' backgrounds. They talked on and on, about family, academics, each others' interests, and so on. They went for so long that they almost missed their next class, and had to hurry to get there to avoid being late. _

"But somewhere deep inside, we would forever remember this conversation, as it would be the beginning of our relationship. We didn't really get a chance to see each other over the summer, as both of us went back to our families." Brendan continued, "We did manage to register in a lot of the same classes together for the next year, so we often worked together on assignments, which only made our bond stronger."

"Also, there were times when Brendan invited me out to watch his baseball games," Ashley added, "I wasn't much of a baseball fan, but whenever Brendan was up to bat, I tried to support him and cheer him on. Overall, it was pretty enjoyable being with such a good friend, and I even learned some stuff about the sport, too."

Ness could not help but ask about the most important point. "Here's the million dollar question," the young psychic raised his hand, "when was your first date?"

"I was wondering when anyone would ask that," Ashley replied, causing some laughs among the crowd, "and since you're all dying to know, we might as well reveal it. It was during the summer after the end of our sophomore year, late June to be exact, that Brendan first approached me and asked me out."

"It was memorable alright," Brendan added, "but there was one point where it was almost memorable for the wrong reason."

* * *

"_Thank you so much for coming tonight. You don't know how much this means," Brendan said. This was their first date together, and both sides were a bit nervous as to how to act. They were a bit shaky as they slowly made their way down the sidewalk, and often stuttered as they spoke to each other. _

"_So, what's on the schedule for tonight?" Ashley asked in a joking way. Like Brendan, she genuinely looked forward to this night. This experience might give them a hint as to what would happen to their relationship in the future. But knowing that first impressions often last the longest, she, just like Brendan, didn't want to botch the date._

"_I was hoping to take you to the theatres and watch a film," Brendan explained, "then we'll go out for dinner, and finish the night off with a stroll in the park."_

"_Great, that sounds wonderful, let's go," Ashley linked her arm into Brendan's, and the twosome trotted off to their date._

_The night went extremely smoothly, as both sides soon became comfortable with their elements. By the time the movie ended and they marched off to the restaurant, they were relaxed, taking a more casual approach with each other, and even cracking a joke. "And do you know the difference between Yankee fans and dentists?" Brendan asked._

_Ashley shook her head. They were at the restaurant already, and while they waited for their food, Brendan decided to entertain her with some baseball jokes. Even before Brendan revealed the answer, Ashley already had a smile plastered across her face. "One roots for the Yanks, and the other yanks for the roots!" Brendan answered, which only caused Ashley to laugh even more._

_They kept the atmosphere generally light until the food arrived. Ashley got into a more formal tone as she raised her glass. "Here's a toast," she proposed, "to a great first date, and hopefully many more like it to come." _

_Brendan raised his glass to respond. But deep down inside, Brendan really wanted to tell Ashley something that was offered to him recently. Eating the entire meal in silence, he mulled over how to communicate the news to Ashley, and how she would take it, knowing that they might have to break up after their first date. He knew Ashley would be happy for him, but what would it mean for their relationship. _

_He sighed as they strolled through the park, still holding hands. The night skies were clear, and the cool breeze had opposite effects on the two; Ashley enjoyed every bit of the air, feeling more refreshed than ever, while Brendan felt the coolness as a sign of the near future, as the two might be separated from each other. The event weighed on him so much that it even began to slow Brendan's paces._

_Ashley, however, was not oblivious to Brendan's now glummer mood. "What's wrong? Is something on your mind?" she asked her companion._

_Brendan seemed a bit uneasy, but he chose to reveal it nonetheless. "Alright, if let's say someone offered you something that you've always wanted to do, and you really think it's a good opportunity, but taking it means you lose something that you care a lot about, would you do it?" he stammered._

"_Wh-what do you mean? Did something happen?" Ashley asked, concerned, "Brendan, if there is anything I can help you with, by all means let me know."_

_Brendan sighed, struggling with his words. Might as well get it off my chest, he thought to himself. He turned to Ashley and looked her in the eyes. "You know that the Major League Baseball draft was last week, right? Well, it just so happens that I've been drafted, and they're considering bringing me to spring training next year. That would mean I won't be here after the coming semester, and I'm not sure if I want to do that."_

"_You've been drafted? That's wonderful, congratulations!" Ashley exclaimed, "Why won't you want to go for it? This is an opportunity of a lifetime for you, I'm sure your family will be pleased as well. Of course, you do care about them a lot, and leaving home won't be easy, but if you talk to them, I'm sure they'll understand."_

"_It's not my family I'm concerned with, because they know that I'm doing athletics and are willing to support my decision to go for it should I be drafted," Brendan took a deep breath, "it's…it's you. I mean, I…I don't know if you notice, but…to be more precise, I really care about you. I don't want to put my baseball career ahead of you."_

_Ashley was stunned. Here was Brendan basically confessing his love for her, and was even willing to sacrifice his baseball career for her. At this time, she realized that she had to do something back for Brendan, to at least repay some of that care he showed for her. "Look at me," Ashley said, grabbing a hold of his hands, "it's completely fine if you want to pursue your career. If it makes you happy, then go for it. You know deep down inside that I'll always root for you, and if it means you're moving away, then I'll be more than willing to wait a while before we carry our relationship further." _

_Brendan's eyes just gained a slight twinkle. "You mean that? You seriously want me to give this a shot?" he asked, excited._

_Ashley shrugged. "Why not? We all have our personal goals, and if we don't ever take a chance at anything, how do we succeed?" Ashley countered, "Listen, all I ask is that you focus on making it to the majors, and in between write me a letter or give me a call or two. I'm sure you'll do fine, trust me."_

_Brendan smiled. "So that's how you really feel about me," he replied, "I guess I can make my decision much easier then. I'll go for it, and continue with my degree via correspondence or something like that. I guarantee, I will keep you and all of my friends and family on my mind during the entire time. You've all done so much to help me, both in terms of advice and companionship, and I am eternally grateful for that."_

_At this moment, the two moved closer to each other, never taking their eyes off each other. Within seconds, their lips met in their first kiss ever._

"That's so sweet! You guys finally kissed!" Many Smashers were touched by the story, happy for the couple that their relationship would finally reach this step. However, for every cheery Smasher, there was a sombre one, as it also meant Brendan would have to leave his loved one to take up his baseball career.

"Speaking of baseball, I heard that there's a place for you guys to take batting practice around here. Can I try it out?" Brendan asked, putting his album away.

A few Smashers smiled, knowing they were about to get the chance to see a true professional hit a homerun. They brought him out of the mansion and onto the field, where a platform was set up with a sandbag on it. The Smashers gathered themselves around the area as Yoshi quickly described the rules. "This is Sandbag, who we use for the Homerun Derby. You do as much damage as you can to him in ten seconds without knocking him off, then you belt him with a bat to see how far you can hit him," Yoshi explained. Stepping away from the platform, Yoshi joined the other Smashers as Brendan grabbed the bat and prepared to do his work.

* * *

After a few hits, Brendan and Ashley rejoined the Smashers in finishing their tale of Brendan's baseball career and his relationship with Ashley. Most Smashers were in admiration at how well Brendan had fared in the derby, despite having no experience at anything like it before. "First thing first," Fox led off, "you said that you would take on your baseball career and finish your degree via correspondence. What was spring training like? Did you have to start at the minor league levels and worked your way up?"

"That's pretty much the progress any player would make, regardless of their draft position," Brendan explained, "I had a pretty good first year at Single A and spent my entire second year at Double A. When I was twenty-two years old, I was given the chance by the major league club to make it without going through Triple A, which was the highest level of minor league ball. That year, I didn't want to disappoint."

_Spring Training always seemed like little league ball to Brendan, as many players from all levels and backgrounds came together to become one of twenty-five to make it onto the big leagues roster. He had two good years in the minor leagues, and had a realistic shot at making it to the major league roster this year. Knowing pressure was on him to perform, he trained extra hard in the offseason, and was confident of his abilities._

"_Alright, we're going to do some fielding drills," the fielding coach barked out, "infielders remain near the diamond, outfielders to the grass. Let's go, get a move on!" He clapped his hands for emphasis as players shuffled to their respective positions._

_After a week or so of intense try-outs, the first pre-season game was at hand, and Brendan was given a chance to start at center field. Although he was relatively steady out there, he did not feel he did anything particularly spectacular to really impress the team. "I don't know, it seemed like major league level ball is really something," he said to his friend and teammate Jack Riley, a second baseman who played through the minor league teams with him the last two years, "no matter what I do it seems like someone could almost always match me, if not do it better."_

"_Relax," Jack told his friend. The human was athletically built with dark brown hair and moderately tan skin, and judging from his actions on the infield, Brendan felt he had very quick feet and a steady glove and throw. "It's not like we'll expect the veterans of the team to go easy just to let us on the roster. We have to earn our spots, you know. I like our chance though, since both of us impressed the manager at Double A last year."_

_Brendan and Jack both had strong camps, with both sides making their fair share of good plays on offence and defence. But by the end of preseason, they were both returned to the minor leagues, this time to Triple A. Brendan was not too disappointed at the results, as they were returned at the last rounds of cuts, but it was the reason for the move that stunned him. "You're sending me back because I played questionable defence? How can that be true? I thought you always said my defence was my asset!"_

"_Minor league hitting and major league hitting are totally different, and you haven't proven you can field against these hitters yet," the manager explained, "your defence had potential, but you should still train at Triple A for one more year."_

Brendan sighed. "My mutations have their drawbacks too. The way my body is shaped does not let me jump as high as Yoshi, and shorter arms led to weaker throws."

That stunned the crowd, as it showed not only how tough major leagues really was, but also Brendan was physically handicapped. They tensed up, anxious to hear what Brendan did to overcome such odds. But before another word was uttered, Brendan and his wife stood up. "We'd love to continue the story, but we do want to have dinner first," Ashley announced, "You'll just have to deal with the suspense for now."

The Smashers groaned. "Look, we're not robots, we have to eat too," Brendan countered, "besides, the sooner we've eaten, the sooner you'll hear about my baseball career, and what that did to our relationship." With that, the couple moved off, leaving some Smashers to wonder amongst themselves as to what happened during those years.

* * *

Again, many thanks to **Retchaka, **who, in an email to me, recommended that I gave Brendan a physical disadvantage, such as decreased jumping ability compared to regular Yoshi's. The weak arm strength one was my own, first alluded to back in Chapter 2. You will see how these weaknesses come to affect his baseball career, as well as his relationship with Ashley in the up-coming chapter.

Also, a shout-out to **Nintendo Nut 1,** who wrote a fic that inspired some of the romance scenes in this chapter as well as parts of the next chapter. I first told NN1 of my inspiration in a review to her fic, not sure if she got it yet (I haven't received a reply or a review from her). But either way, I might as well say my thanks to her here.

Your reviews and comments are greatly appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5

I want to give another major thank you to **Retchaka,** who is so far the ONLY person to review this fic. It's not like I'm not getting hits on the fic, it's just no one chooses to leave any comments on it. Come on, people, let's pick it up!

SSBM is owned by Nintendo. I own Yoshi's uncle Brendan.

_Italics_ means the flashback sequence.

* * *

The sun had nearly disappeared from the horizon as the Smashers gathered in the living room after dinner, eager to hear Brendan tell them what he did to make it to the Major Leagues despite his supposed disadvantage regarding his weaker throwing arm. "It felt like I had to learn how to field all over again. Thankfully, the basic fundamentals were not my most important issue, so it wasn't too hard to pick up in a year."

"So when did they finally you onto the team? And did they still question your defence at that time?" Mario asked.

"They still thought I had weak arm strength, and didn't recommend me to jump for balls hit near the fence," Brendan replied. Flipping open a third album, this one showed him in his baseball days, with a customized uniform made especially to suit his irregular body. "I had something in my arsenal that I incorporated into my defence in Triple A and I was prepared to use it at the major league levels."

"_What do you mean you perfected the skill of catching a ball with your tongue?" The manager demanded. It was a new year, and both Brendan and Jack honed their skills at Triple A. Because of the departure of a few free agents, they were expected to be the new starters at center field and second base. It was at training camp that Brendan had wanted to show the coaching staff his new skill, and see what they had to say._

_The scepticism shown by the manager made Brendan's life a bit harder, but Brendan kept pleading his case to the manager. "Look, it's an ability I have as a Yoshi. I have this long tongue that is somewhat sticky. I can fling it out my mouth and catch a fly ball with it. Trust me, I think I can incorporate this with my defence."_

_Unconvinced, the manager had the team broken up into their positions again. When it was time for the outfield fielding drills, he purposely had a ball hit towards Brendan, who claimed he would catch it with his tongue. As the ball sailed into the outfield, Brendan trotted towards its direction, showing the form that a usual outfielder would have. But suddenly, he stopped running, threw his head back, and shot out his tongue. The tip attached itself onto the ball and yanked it into his mouth. The manager and some other players stood there in awe. "How did you do that?" they demanded._

_Brendan spat the ball into his glove. "I told you, it was my species' special ability." His left hand lifted the ball out of his glove, and he threw it back to the manager. The older man caught it and examined the ball, not a drop of saliva on the exterior as he rolled it in his hand. He stared at it like it was a moon rock, too shocked to say anything._

"So did they let you continue catching balls with your tongue?" Luigi asked. By now, most Smashers were awfully interested in hearing how Brendan managed to use a Yoshi's most distinct skill in baseball. A few even stared at Yoshi uneasily, knowing that if he mastered the technique, he would have an advantage whenever they played.

"Unfortunately, not for long, because the actual spitting of the ball into the glove and throwing it back actually takes more time. I already have a weak arm, meaning it'll affect my defence more," Brendan explained, rolling his left arm by the shoulder joint.

The Smashers kept their eyes on the small limb, the source of all the problems for his baseball career, and wondered what Brendan had in mind to overcome this deficiency. "So what did they recommend you to do?" Kirby questioned.

"In one of the most creative things a manager could ever do, he suggested that I try to slap the ball into my glove or my throwing hand with the tongue, so that I will still be counted as catching it, but can get rid of it faster." Brendan sighed. "You know, that was one of the hardest baseball skills I ever had to learn, and it was frustrating."

* * *

"_Come on, Brendan, that's the third fielding error you made this month, and fifth so far this season. At this rate, you would make over twenty errors!" the manager exclaimed. Despite seeing Brendan's tongue catch, the team refused to let him catch the ball with his tongue, and made him learn the slap trick instead. It was literally baptism by fire, as he was forced to master the trick throughout the regular season. Learning it by the fly was very difficult, as Brendan had relatively little success with it so far, and was very much frustration along the way._

"_Look, it's not like I'm not trying, but I can't do all that at once. The slapping thing with the tongue is harder than you had envisioned, you know!" Brendan snapped, annoyed at the manager. They lost another close one, and two runs were a result of the tongue slap that swatted the ball into the ground rather than into the glove._

_The manager either did not hear Brendan or chose to ignore him. Instead, he addressed the team. "We're visiting teams from the south, and the first three games will be at L.A. I'm shooting for taking at least two of three from them…"_

_L.A., maybe I get to visit Ashley, Brendan thought to himself. He had not called or wrote to Ashley since he first told her of him making it onto the major league roster. This might be a good chance for them to catch up. He had this on his mind throughout the entire trip, and right after landing in L.A., he bought a ticket to the first game and went to Ashley's home, intending to give it to her. Standing before the door of her residence, he was hopeful his girlfriend would accept his offer._

_Fortunately, Ashley was available the night of the game, so she was more than willing to show up and cheer her boyfriend on. She invited him into her apartment while she was busy putting the ticket away. Taking a seat in the living room, Brendan asked, "So what are you up to? You got your degree in business, what do you plan to do?"_

"_Believe it or not, I plan to start my own business," she replied. She stepped back into the living room and took a seat next to Brendan, reminiscent of their first date, "I've always wanted to open my own restaurant, and since my parents live in the Chinatown district, they have some friends that can give me advice on that."_

"_Opening a restaurant? I never knew you were interested in culinary arts!" Brendan exclaimed, completely caught off guard._

"_That's why I'm currently working in a restaurant. I'm an assistant cook there, and the head chef was more than kind enough to allow me to work and learn skills from him." Ashley put an arm around Brendan as the two enjoyed their moment together, "It's good both ways, I guess. I can make some money and learn culinary skills to prepare for when my restaurant opens." Ashley looked Brendan in the eyes. "Is something wrong? I can tell you're not exactly in the best mood when you came in."_

_Brendan sighed. "It's just that the major league level is really something else. I mean, everything just seems so much harder…"_

"I explained to her the difficulties that I went through during those games, and how I'm more stressed out than ever," Brendan concluded, closing his eyes and his posture slumping a bit. His placed his hands near his thighs, his body rocked back and forth slightly as he replayed the events in his mind.

The Smashers were nearly silent, realizing how Brendan, despite making it to the highest level, still had much more to go. They leaned forward, intent to hear more as Ashley added, "I tried to reassure him, telling him that life is all about trying to climb higher mountains," Ashley put a hand on Brendan's wrist, as if trying to comfort him, "I mean, my goal of opening a restaurant is defying some odds as well."

"Wait, the thing about opening your own restaurant, isn't it true that most head chefs are male? How often did one find female head chefs?" Donkey Kong inquired.

"The chances of one finding a female head chef is less than ten percent, and that's even in today's standards," Ashley replied.

"Yeah, I admit, my wife is amongst a very rare group, almost one-of-a-kind. It's too bad that I didn't appreciate it at first," Brendan commented, his tone becoming more subdued and sadder, "I was too obsessed with my success on the field, and was too proud to recognize her achievements. It almost led to the end of our relationship."

That got the attention of most Smashers. Who would have thought this perfect couple almost did not make it? "What happened?" Samus asked, "Did you have a fight?"

Brendan lifted his head back up, his eyes a bit watery. The Smashers looked on, concerned as they reached a painful chapter of their honorary member's life. "It happened when I was twenty-six years old, going into my fourth year in the major leagues," Brendan recalled, "it was the night before I left for spring training, and it was one of the nastiest things we ever got ourselves into…"

* * *

_Brendan marched angrily back into his apartment, slamming the door shut. He strode into his room, threw open a suitcase, and packed in his baseball equipment to prepare for spring training. "You can't worry about that now," he muttered to himself, "you have to worry about spring training, and making the team, and…"_

_He paused. "Who am I kidding? I shouldn't have done that to her. She didn't deserve to hear any of those words." Brendan sat on his bed, his head in his hands. Just before he came home, he decided to visit Ashley one more time before packing for baseball camp. A simple discussion on Brendan's weak points in baseball escalated into a shouting match. Both sides accused each other of being selfish and not caring about the other's life and career. Brendan ended up telling Ashley that being a female chef is "not impressive and that her dreams will end in failure" while Ashley called Brendan a "chauvinistic jock who was too conceited to see through even his own baseball glove." Sighing, Brendan put his suitcase away, and went to bed for the night._

_But this season, Brendan was a totally different person. Sure his skills had some improvements, but they were still a bit inconsistent. But instead of working his way through them and making adjustments, he turned his frustration on almost anything and everything that ticked him off. He constantly argued balls and strikes with the umpire, and questioned the second base referee whenever his steals were unsuccessful. Once, he was hit by a pitch, and instead of marching to first base, he charged the mound and tried to start a fight with the pitcher. That resulted in him being ejected from the game._

_This attitude change was not unnoticed by the coaching staff, his teammates, and even the fans. The manager ultimately offered an ultimatum: Brendan must fix this issue or face decreased playing time. Fellow players shied away from him a lot, not willing to deal with the explosive character that he had become. Taunts from baseball fans were more frequent, and nastier in nature. Finally, Jack could not stand this anymore, and decided to approach his friend and teammate on this issue._

"_What's up with you, Brendan? You've been reacting to the slightest things this year. You weren't like this the two or three years before, so what changed you?" Jack demanded as they exited the locker room. It was after another poor outing in which Brendan got into a shouting match with some fans in the outfield seats. Some nasty words were exchanged, and Brendan was incensed with comments they made about his parents._

"_Jack, I'm fine," Brendan replied, exasperated, "I just have a couple of bugs in my baseball skills that I need to work on, nothing I can't handle." He turned to leave._

_But Jack would not back down. He grabbed Brendan by the shoulder and turned him around to face him. "No, you're not," he insisted, "You take stuff out on people at the slightest instigation. When you strike out, you accuse the ump of missing calls. You were caught stealing, and accused the second base referee of missing the call. You charge pitchers when you get hit by pitches, you get into shouting matches with fans, and all your skills, offensive or defensive, are deteriorating." _

_When Brendan tried to shake Jack off and walk away, Jack persisted. "Look, if you don't tell me what's going on, I'll float a petition around, and take it to management to request that you be traded, released, or sent to the minors," he threatened._

_Brendan turned to face his friend and teammate, clearly defeated. "Can we talk about this in a private place?" he requested._

_Brendan and Jack marched into a restaurant to have dinner, requesting a table in a corner away from most people. After they ordered, Brendan told Jack of his argument with Ashley, and how he had questioned her career goals and desires. "It was a stupid thing to do," he explained, "I shouldn't have doubted her abilities, but I guess I let the glory of being a professional athlete get to me. Before I knew it, I said a bunch of stuff that she wasn't too happy with. I should have backed down and apologized, but I let it escalate, and now she wouldn't want to see me again." He sighed, a pleading look in his eyes. "I haven't spoken to her since before spring training, and I don't know what to do."_

_Jack was shocked for a minute. From his experience as Brendan's close friend, teammate, and confidant, he had always known that Brendan and Ashley deeply cared for each other. Who had thought that their relationship had deteriorated in one offseason? Regaining his composure, he responded, "You still have to do something about it. You can't let this affect your career or life overall!"_

"_I know! I know! I just don't know what to do!" Brendan cried out, "She won't even speak to me, so how can I apologize?"_

"_Do something for her that shows her how important she is, more important than even your baseball career," Jack suggested, "you can't just sit here and let it eat away at you. It's going to hurt the team, but it's going to hurt you more."_

_Brendan looked up, suspicious of the claim. Jack took this chance to continue, "I am closing in on a hundred career home runs. When I do hit it, I plan to request the fan that catches it to return the ball to me so I can give it to my girlfriend, who is currently training to be a criminologist in San Francisco. That's what I'm going to do to show her that she's still very important to me. Maybe try something like that for Ashley."_

_Brendan cringed. He was never one who exposed his private life in public. In fact, other than Jack, nobody even knew he had a girlfriend. Would it be the best solution to make a public apology? Not only would this be damaging to himself, but Ashley might not appreciate the move to bring her into the spotlight either. "There's no other way, right?" Brendan asked, "You know I'm always leery of the press."_

_Jack glanced at Brendan pleadingly. "When you're married, chances are you'll be making it public as well. After all, paparazzi are not a new phenomenon, and they'll track your every move. Better to get this over with and deal with the problem altogether, unless you want them to make it worse, and hurt Ashley even more. Not just by making it sound like you're remorseless, but spreading other nasty rumours as well."_

_Brendan mulled his options over. It would be a big risk, but he was willing to take it for the one he loved. "It's all or nothing, and I'm not about to let Ashley down!"_

"And just a side note on Jack," Brendan side-tracked, "I asked him how he met his girlfriend, because baseball and forensics seem to have very little in common. He said it was during his university days, down in UC San Diego. Originally, Jack didn't want to be a baseball player, but a police officer. That's why he was a psychology major, as he wanted to understand crime and law enforcement mentality before tackling the career. His girlfriend shared some courses with him, and that's how they met."

"So did he become a cop? I mean, he'll have to quit his baseball career first, and by that time, he'd be a pretty old rookie cop," Falco pointed out.

"I actually did raise this point before him, and his exact words to me were: 'you don't get a lot of rookie cops in their mid or late-thirties, but that's good enough for me.' He was all prepared to start a law enforcement career after baseball," Brendan replied.

At this time, Brendan and Ashley both got up. "It's getting late, and we're a bit tired. So if anyone of you wants to know how Brendan managed to re-win my heart, you'll have to wait until tomorrow," Ashley announced. They took back all the photo albums they circulated earlier and headed for their rooms.

The Smashers groaned. It would be a cliff hanger of a night for most of these individuals. Most glared at the couple in mock anger as they strolled down the hallway hand-in-hand, wondering about the events that happened between then and today. Soon, the Smashers also dispersed, leaving the living room dark as they too headed to their rooms, getting a good night's rest before the big day tomorrow.

* * *

Expect some quick updates soon. I already have the next chapter or two in my head, all it takes is to write them down and submit them to the site. Keep reading and reviewing!


	6. Chapter 6

Believe it or not, I got no reviews for my last update again. I must point out that this site clearly encourages writers to make comments on each other's work to improve each other's skills. So let's try to honour the spirit and start commenting a bit more, ok?

SSBM is owned by Nintendo. I own Yoshi's uncle Brendan.

_Italics_ means the flashback sequence.

* * *

The next morning, Brendan and Ashley were bombarded with questions on how Brendan and Ashley managed to get back together after the nasty argument before spring training. The Smashers swamped them throughout their breakfast. By the time they finished eating, Brendan and Ashley had the Smashers gathered in the living room again.

"So, judging by your enthusiasm, you guys really want to know how we got back together and on good terms," Ashley started.

The Smashers all nodded eagerly. Brendan glanced at his wife, who had a huge smile on her face. "Alright, to refresh your memories, Jack told me to do something very special for Ashley, such as dedicate a baseball milestone to her," Brendan explained, "it just so happens that there is one milestone creeping up on me at this time…"

"_And that's our starting line-up, so get warmed up and get ready to take the field!" the manager barked out as the players began stretching. At this time, he turned to Brendan, who stepped out of the dug-out at a slower pace than the others. "Brendan, try not to get into arguments with fans again," he warned his lead-off hitter._

_Brendan nodded with a little smile on his face. They finally finished that nasty road trip that saw Brendan get heckled, and later enter into a shouting match, with some fans. It was also after his little talk with Jack that taught him some valuable life advice. He was determined to put the finishing touches on this very frustrating chapter of his life, one that he deemed "regrettable." Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the game began. Brendan tried to ignore some dissatisfied fans in the outfield. Despite playing at home and these fans were here to cheer on his team, they were not too happy with Brendan's antics. After a relatively uneventful top first inning, Brendan grabbed a bat and took his position at the hitter's box to lead-off the game._

_Brendan tried to remain patient during the at-bat, passing up at a couple of balls and fouling off some pitches. Right at full count, Brendan got the pitch he wanted: a sinking fastball at the outside of the plate. Hitting from his strong (left) side, he slashed the ball up the middle, right between the second baseman and shortstop, for a single._

_Brendan stood patiently at first base as the next batter came to hit. He glanced at the third base coach relaying the signals to him. Then suddenly, he got it: a sign to steal! He prepared himself, taking a few steps off the bag, and stepped into a "taking off" pose. When the pitcher released the ball, he made a mad dash for second base. Everything around him just seemed like a blur, as all he cared about was contacting the base before the catcher could throw him out. Glancing to his left, he could see the catcher unleash the ball, rocketing towards the shortstop like a bullet shot out of a gun. He slid at the last second to avoid the tag as dust and smoke were kicked up. When all was cleared, he saw the second base referee with his arms outstretched. "Safe!" he yelled._

_Brendan slapped the base in celebration. He quickly got up and approached the referee. After some discussion and a small nod from the ref, Brendan pulled the base from the field and carried it back into the dug-out. "This is the one hundredth stolen base of his career," Brendan heard the announcer call out, "please give him a big round of applause!" He could hear the crowd politely clapping as he handed the base off to the bat boy, giving him specific instructions to take it to his locker._

_The game was finally over with the home team winning 8-6, snapping a mediocre road trip. The reporters gathered into the locker room for interviews with the players, but particularly Brendan, who stole his one hundredth career base. They found him sitting in front of his stall, scribbling some words onto the base with a dark marker. "Can we get an interview?" the reporters asked as they approached the large dinosaur._

_Brendan nodded, still writing on the base and not bothering to look up. "First question," one reporter began, "this is your one hundredth career stolen base. What are some of your thoughts on this?"_

"_It's a significant milestone, I'm very happy to have reached it. I want this to be a testament to my hard work and dedication towards the game. And to all the fans out there, I couldn't have done it without your support, so thank you very much!" Brendan replied, snapping the cap back onto the marker._

"_I noticed that you did some scribbling on the base," another reporter pointed out, "can you tell me what that's about?"_

_Brendan looked up at the reporters, noticing that they were all taking notes. Some were even recording with tape recorders and cameras. "In fact, yes, I want all of you to take this down and record this," Brendan lifted the base, "I'm also dedicating this milestone to Ashley, a fellow Yoshi like myself living in L.A. We're going through some hard times right now, and most of that was my fault. I want to take this chance to show her that she means the world to me, more than anything else, even baseball." _

_Brendan felt himself tearing up, but soldiered forward, "Ashley, I've been terrible to you, and I sincerely apologize for the pain I've caused. I can change, and I'm willing to change. So let's get back together and start fresh, I'm willing to make it happen." Brendan nodded to the reporters. "That's all I have to say."_

_The reporters were silent, not sure how to react after such an emotional moment. None of them knew much about Brendan's private life, but now he decided to reveal not just his faults, but his efforts to become a better person. Finally, the cameraman asked, "Can you hold up the plate higher so I can get a clearer shot of what you wrote?"_

_Brendan lifted it up to the camera. "It says: Sorry for the pain I've caused. Let's start new.'" Brendan replied._

That line alone caused many Smashers to become emotional. Even Bowser and Ganandorf, two Smashers not known for showing emotions for these actions, gave Brendan nods of approval. "Wow, what a dramatic way to tell her you're sorry," Zelda commented, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Did Ashley get the apology on TV?" Young Link asked, "How did she react?"

It was Ashley who explained. "I did see it on TV, and deep down inside, I was touched. However, I wasn't sure if I was completely ready to start again, so I called him on the phone and tried to tell him how I felt about this. I told him, 'maybe we need to go back to the way when we were in UCLA, just taking it one step at a time and not rushing into anything.' Brendan took it quite well, and was willing to go that route."

"Weeks, months, it didn't matter to me. All that mattered was that Ashley gave me a chance to redeem myself, and I would make it happen," Brendan described with a shrug, "Who would have guessed that a little more than a year later, I would propose to her, and she ended up accepting." Brendan and Ashley now held their hands together. "We've been married for almost fifteen years now, and our relationship is strong as ever."

"I'm a little surprised that you didn't dedicate a home run ball to her," Roy pointed out, "after all, home runs are usually more dramatic, aren't they?"

"I'm not a power hitter," Brendan replied, "I only averaged about fifteen home runs a year, but I can steal thirty, thirty-five bases no problem. Believe me, I was changed by that experience," Brendan continued, "I never took anything for granted ever again. I kept working hard on my skills, both offensive and defensive. Before long, I got hits again, and despite not being a Gold Glove candidate, my defence was on the way up."

"Did you dedicate any more milestones to important people?" Marth questioned.

"I did dedicate future milestones to other people. I dedicated my next milestone of one hundred home runs to my parents. My one thousandth hit went to my brother, and my two hundredth stolen base went to my former college baseball coach," Brendan listed his milestones off, "I even dedicated something to Yoshi: my three hundredth stolen base."

"I was ten years old when Uncle Brendan sent that over to me in a package," Yoshi recalled, "that made me absolutely wild that my uncle would do something like that to me. You can't believe how good I felt when I first touched that base," Yoshi said as he hugged his uncle. "Strange, that's also the last major milestone you reached."

"Unfortunately, yes. I would suffer a career ending injury after that and was forced to retire early at the age of thirty-two." Brendan explained, "Ashley had already moved to San Francisco by then, so we were a bit of a young couple, having only been married for about five years. That's when Yoshi Sr. told me of a project he wanted to do with Yoshi's Island, and offered to let me get involved."

* * *

_Playing a game in San Francisco meant Ashley would be able to attend. Brendan had a pretty good game so far, getting a lead-off hit and stealing another base. It was the third inning, and his team was ahead 1-0. His pitcher delivered a sinking fastball, and the hitter crushed it to left-center field. Brendan hustled to get the ball, which he judged was still within his reach. He was confident in his speed to track it down, and felt his tongue catch would not be necessary. His eyes were focused directly on the ball, so much so that he had no idea that the left fielder was also rushing towards him at top speed._

_The next few moments were a complete blur. He could see at the last second the left fielder also charging in at full speed. Brendan jumped to make a catch, only to collide violently with the left fielder, causing both players to land hard onto the grass. The catch was made, but Brendan felt a tremendous amount of pain from his right leg. He knew something was broken as the doctors put him into a stretcher and carted him off the field._

_The news was not good for Brendan, as his right hip and knee were dislocated. Surgery was needed, and he was expected to miss the rest of the season, maybe more. He was hesitant at first, but Brendan conceded that continuing his baseball career was not preferable. After several discussions with both doctors and his wife, he had decided, at season's end, to announce his retirement from baseball._

"_I know hindsight is twenty-twenty, but do you think I genuinely made the right decision in quitting early?" Brendan asked. He was at his new San Francisco home with Ashley, and reflected on his move after the season. He still had some trouble walking, but was nonetheless satisfied with the skills of Dr. Mario Sr. in fixing his leg. Physiotherapy would take up the bulk of his time in the day, as Dr. Mario Sr. tried everything to make his leg stronger, but progress was slow thanks to the complicated surgery._

"_Look on the bright side: at least you're not like Jack, whose career ended because the team didn't offer him a contract," Ashley pointed out. Because of injuries to both Brendan and the left fielder, the team had to replace some players, including having the back-up second baseman playing some outfield. But he played so well, particularly on hitting, that he was given the starting second baseman job the next season. Jack became a free agent, and was left unsigned by the team. He ended up pursuing his dream of becoming a police officer, and was training at the local police academy as they spoke._

"_At least Jack planned out his career after baseball," Brendan retorted, "I didn't plan at all, and now I'm stuck with nothing. Look at me, I'm stuck at home, completely helpless and immobile, not to mention unemployed!"_

"_How about helping me with my restaurant then?" Ashley challenged. Ashley finally opened her restaurant a few months ago, focusing on a fusion of Chinese and French cuisine, with a slight touch of ingredients from Yoshi's Island added to it._

"_What? No way! What do I know about culinary arts?" Brendan rejected. Just at this time, the door bell rang, cutting short their little debate. Ashley got off the couch to answer the door, while Brendan hobbled behind her._

_When the door opened, it revealed Yoshi Sr. "How are the knee and hip?" Yoshi Sr. asked, pointing to his younger brother's still weak right leg._

"_It's coming along, the healing process is probably going to take a while," Brendan explained as Yoshi Sr. stepped into his home. "So, what brings you here? And how's my little nephew doing?" Brendan asked his big brother._

"_Yoshi's fine, and he wants me to thank you for the stolen base, but that's not what I'm here to talk about. Right now, I have a project that may change how the denizens of Yoshi's Island, and even all Nintendian's, interact with each other." Yoshi Sr. nodded to Ashley, "As you know, currently Ashley uses some ingredients from Yoshi's Island in her menu at her restaurant."_

_Brendan and Ashley both nodded. "They're mainly fruits that replace the usual ones that are served in Chinese or French cuisine. I also use some spices that are custom made from ingredients also from the island. They're all imported legally, by the way, but the signing of the papers to prove it is quite a pain." Ashley explained._

_Brendan and Yoshi Sr. both chuckled at that comment, but Yoshi Sr. returned to the original point. "My proposal is this: both my family and I wanted to share some of Yoshi's Island's famous fruits with the rest of the Nintendian world. I've done some travelling to the other places and the reception for this idea seemed somewhat positive, but I'm not sure what the best way to market them is."_

"_And you want Ashley and me to help you research into how they can be marketed? Seems like a pretty good challenge, so I'll accept," Brendan answered. All three graduated with a business degree, although Brendan's was via correspondence._

"_There's a touch of humanitarianism in this as well," Yoshi Sr. added, "I will give a third of the profits made in these sales back to the places we sold to. This is mainly for projects in great need at those places. So this is good for us and our future clients."_

_Suddenly, an idea flashed into Brendan's head. "Why not expand the project a bit further?" Brendan suggested, "Technically, I'm unemployed right now, so I might take this chance and get myself a job. I will try marketing the fruits here in San Francisco. And to follow through on your original intention, I'll donate some profits to help the homeless here. You probably noticed that San Francisco has quite a large homeless population, especially around the older parts of the city, so why not donate some money to the organizations to give them a hand?" Brendan stood up and dramatically announced, "I'm going to run my own store!"_

Brendan finally pulled out the last photo album, one that the Smashers had not seen before. Inside were plenty of his pictures dating back to his store being opened, and from their angle, the Smashers could see a large celebration. "My wife was convinced that to celebrate this moment, we should make it big, and that included nixing East and West," Brendan explained, "since we're located in Chinatown, Ashley brought in her Chinese friends to represent the East, while I brought in my teammates to be the West."

Ashley smiled as well while the book was circulated. "It was to celebrate a bit of a rebirth for Brendan. Gone was his career as a baseball star, but coming in was his new life as a storekeeper and humanitarian, for both local and overseas."

* * *

"_I formally declare the Yoshi Store open!" Brendan shouted excitedly as his special guests cut the ribbon. Brendan managed to get a space right down the street from his wife's restaurant, and opened his store there. Today was the grand opening, and he chose his former major league manager, his wife Ashley, and Officer Jack Riley to cut the ribbon. "My pledge to you all is this: I will serve you with the same level of enthusiasm as I showed on the baseball field, provided you don't heckle me when I work."_

_The crowd chuckled as they heard the joke, as Ashley led them to her restaurant down the street for some refreshments. Yoshi Sr. took the time to speak to Brendan. "You can't let up now," he advised his brother, "if you want to show everyone the pride of Yoshi's Island, you got to make sure this store is the best in the neighbourhood."_

_But this was easier said than done, as the first few months did not experience good business at all. Sure there were some people dropping by, but they mainly bought local goods, and only a few even bothered to ask about Yoshi's Island fruits. "I think we got to try harder," Brendan said to his brother in a phone conversation a few months after the opening, "we need to get their attention somehow."_

"_I know I said we wanted the store to be the best in the neighbourhood, but don't you think you're putting a bit too much pressure on yourself?" Yoshi Sr. asked, "After all, the store has only been open for a few months, you can't expect people to just file in and buy the fruits in bunches."_

_But that answer did not seem to be good enough for Brendan, who was beginning to get desperate. He began lobbying every person that stepped into his store to give Yoshi's Island fruits a chance, mentioning it every time a customer checked out at the counter. He even went as far as to go out of the store and rallying at passer-by's, not to mention putting up huge signs advertising them. Soon, the efforts were having an effect, albeit a negative one, as customers found him downright irritating._

"That reaction didn't directly relate to more people shopping there," Brendan told the Smashers, "Jack actually ran into me rallying at passer-by's once when he was on patrol, and decided to set the record straight for me. I can't believe he ended up giving me business advice, but what he said to me was good, and I still haven't forgotten it."

"_Brendan, just go in, you're causing a scene and I don't want to have to arrest you for public misconduct." Jack gently nudged him back into the store. Brendan was out on his "soap box" holding a sign rallying customers to buy Yoshi's Island fruits again._

_Once inside the store, Brendan turned on the police officer. "Jack, you're preventing me from doing my business here. I'm just trying to rally more customers, is that against the law?" Brendan demanded._

"_Brendan, I know nothing about running a store, but what you're doing right now is not making things better," Jack explained, "You got to give the customers a chance to make a choice. You can't just bombard them and pressure them to buy your stuff."_

_Brendan looked outraged. "Jack, if you're implying I'm forcing them…"_

_But the police officer cut him off. "Let me use a police analogy. When I joined the force, I knew a few people that worked for the PR department, and they told me that as an officer, I shouldn't impose law and order on the people. If I'm patrolling, I don't want to pressure the public to cooperate or submit to me. People should be given choices about how they should live their lives, and I'm only there to guarantee that they have choice by ensuring they all follow the rules." Jack pointed at the fruit stands in the store. "Same applies for your fruits, as you don't want to pressure people to buy them. It's about choice, and all you should be doing is giving people incentives to make that choice. Having you ever considered cutting prices or giving discounts?"_

"_Just cut prices? Of all the costs it took to ship them in here, it'd be a miracle to make a profit with prices lower than the ones I have," Brendan pointed out._

"_We didn't win every game when we played baseball, so what makes you think you'll make a profit in your first year?" Jack retorted, "The only thing you can do is continue giving people their choice, and sooner or later they'll react positively."_

At this time Brendan's cell phone rang. "Hello…Jack, you're here already? That's early…Lunch? Sure, we'll come," He hung up his cell, and turned to the Smashers, "That was Jack Riley, who will be attending my award ceremony tonight. He wants to have lunch with me, so I'll be taking off with my wife. I'll finish the story when I get back." With that, Brendan and Ashley took off, leaving the Smashers hanging again.

* * *

One more chapter to go, and then it's the completion of my first fic here! No letting up now, expect the ending REAL soon!


	7. Chapter 7

Here is the concluding chapter to my story. I placed Smasher mansion in the Pacific Northwest, mainly because it is where Nintendo's American headquarters are located. That's why it is realistic for Brendan and Jack to drive there from San Francisco.

And look for references to Super Mario World 2 and Yoshi's Story references in this chapter. I felt it does a better job of portraying the efforts Yoshi Sr. and Brendan had on making Nintendo worlds better places to live.

SSBM is owned by Nintendo. I own Yoshi's uncle Brendan.

_Italics_ means the flashback sequence.

* * *

Brendan returned from lunch, bringing back the friend he referred to earlier. "I'd like you to meet my good friend and former baseball teammate, and current member of the San Francisco police force, Officer Jack Riley!" Brendan announced to the Smashers.

Standing before them was a tall, clean-shaven figure with short, dark hair. He wore a black leather jacket with the SFPD logo on it, navy blue dress pants and dark dress shoes. "So you're the Smashers that Brendan kept on referring to. It's a pleasure to finally meet you all," Jack greeted, "Ashley and my wife Joan are doing some shopping right now, so Brendan suggested I come hang out with you. And by the way, just so you know, it's actually Sergeant Jack Riley now. They approved of my promotion last week."

"We might as well finish telling the story of my store, and what I did with the money afterwards," Brendan proposed to his policeman friend, "These guys need to set up for the awards ceremony tonight."

_"I thought you were more interested in the homeless shelter, so why the change of heart?" Jack asked. On the one-year anniversary of the opening of his store, Brendan had invited Jack and Yoshi Sr. to his house for a small party. They were at the dining room table when Brendan proposed changing his plan to use some of his profits on the Yoshi Island fruits to help the orphanage rather than the homeless shelter, which baffled his friend and former teammate, as he was caught off guard by the switch._

_Brendan shrugged. "I just thought I would make a bigger difference helping out children in need rather than adults. My brother and I were both immigrants, in a sense, and we know how difficult it is for us adjusting to a new life. I just figured that children would be more vulnerable to drastic changes in their lives rather than adults, since they have fewer resources to work with. The orphans would benefit more, and we need to at least give them a chance to better their lives, that's all."_

_Jack, Ashley and Yoshi Sr. nodded, respecting Brendan's decision. "I can't really control what you do here in San Francisco, but there is another place that I was hoping you'd put some effort into as well," Yoshi Sr. stated, "Yoshi's Island has been in some trouble ever since an attack by someone named Baby Bowser. You were still in university at that time, so you probably didn't know too much about it. Anyway, I was at Yoshi's Island back then, and although I wasn't there to battle the enemy, I was aware of the situation and how the Super Happy Tree was stolen. It took six Yoshis hatched from the new 'gloomy' environment to get it back. I stayed on the island at the time, helping out a baby named Mario reunite with his brother Luigi, who was kidnapped by Bowser a little while before the tree was taken. Now, I want to go back and help them out."_

Mario nodded. "It was Yoshi Sr. who was the most instrumental in helping me find my brother. But we left the island by the time Bowser returned to steal the tree, so we couldn't help out our old friend. So when Brendan agreed to his brother's offer, we couldn't refuse in helping him make the island better," he explained.

"We're going to have a lot of catching up to do once we see him again tonight," Luigi chimed in, "any reason why he's arriving so late, Yoshi?" he asked the dinosaur.

Yoshi shrugged. "Maybe him and Mom have something big to prepare for Uncle Brendan, I guess." Turning back to his uncle, he suggested, "why don't you tell us how you turned from helping the island to helping other Nintendo worlds?"

Brendan smiled at his nephew. "You're just saying that because your name will be mentioned, right? Since all the inspiration for helping out other worlds came from a few years back, when you joined the first group of Smashers?"

* * *

_A teenage Yoshi sat in Brendan's house, describing his experiences with the Smashers to his uncle. "There were twelve of us, and Dad's friends Mario and Luigi were both there, and so was Donkey Kong, one of Mario's older rivals, and a bunch of others from across the universe," Yoshi told his uncle, "and apparently, they all had their own set of experiences as well, and all of them had great stories to tell."_

_Brendan listened with interest, mulling over his nephew's words. He had actually met Mario in person a couple of times before, when he went with Yoshi Sr. to survey Yoshi's Island. Realizing Mario sometimes had a lot on his plate, especially regarding his close friend Princess Peach being captured by a now full-grown Bowser all the time, Yoshi Sr. convinced Brendan to assist Mushroom Kingdom whenever such emergencies occurred. Knowing that their security forces, a group known as the Toads, were not very sophisticated in their defence attempts, Brendan and Yoshi Sr. put in some funds to help better their communication networks, so that in any cases of danger, they could reach each other, or Mario and Luigi, easier. That way, invasions by Bowser and his minions could be handled easier, making Princess Peach safer at home._

_"But you know, despite being from different places, those guys all have their own set of problems as well," Yoshi continued, "for instance, this guy from Hyrule called Link was in a similar boat as Mario, having to constantly safeguard his kingdom and princess from danger against an enemy group. Their defences were as bad as the Toads, as the Hylian military barely had enough to defend themselves, let alone the entire kingdom. Another guy was this pilot named Fox McCloud, and he works for the military of the Lylat System. He's been unemployed for the last few years, with no one hiring his team on a mission. Recently I heard he's gone to a planet called Sauria, where these dinosaurs were also under threat, and this crazed dictator was tearing the world apart, and…"_

_"Whoa, slow down, big guy," Brendan interrupted his nephew, "It seems like there's a lot on the plate for you and your friends. I mean, I don't mind giving help, if that's what you want me to do, but understand that a lot of these things are out of my personal jurisdiction. For Hyrule, I'm not an arms dealer, nor do I plan to become one illegally, so their military is out of my control. For Fox, I can't just write him a cheque worth a million dollars. He's got to be able to stand on his own two feet as well. So if you truly want me to help them, you're going to have to be a bit more specific than that."_

_"I'm not saying reform Link's military system or make Fox beg for crumbs or something like that," Yoshi clarified himself, "there are other aspects of their worlds that you can make a difference in, both you and Dad. For example, Hyrule's regular folks are much better off than the kingdom itself, as they've developed their own markets and trade system. Royalty is in the midst of a change, with Link's good friend Zelda taking over, and she's looking for ideas to modernize. Your advice could be a difference-maker for her. As for Fox, Sauria's going to need rebuilding after that attack, so at the very least you can have him deliver some aid for the dinosaur inhabitants. It's doable, right?"_

_Brendan sighed, looking at his nephew with an expression of uncertainty. It would be one of the largest projects he would undertake, and it would take every bit of energy to get it right, plus handle his own store. But if he could make a difference in these people's lives, he was willing to do it. "Well, no use sitting around stewing in our own juices," he said, "why don't we get started? Now, is there a way I can contact any of your friends?"_

Brendan reopened his eyes, as if waking up from a long dream sequence. "And that's the situation you get today. I'm no longer going to blow my own horn, so I'll just let Link and Fox tell you themselves what happened afterwards," he gestured to the two.

"Instead of asking us to rearm ourselves, Brendan suggested that we try for a sustainable expansion of our farmland," Link explained, "if years, we went from having a limited market to a variety of goods from everywhere, and even then we were able to keep our boundaries intact without affecting the homes of our friends, like the Gorons and the Zoras. Zelda actually quoted Brendan when she proposed the changes, saying that Hyrule can only be stable if everyone's basic needs are met, and that's food clothing and shelter, things that Brendan focused on when he gave his suggestions."

Fox took centre stage after his Hylian friend. "Sauria's very far from where we are, since it's on the outskirts of the Lylat System, so it's going to take longer for me to get the stuff to Tricky. But even then, we've done lots for the dinosaurs and making their lives better after the war from Scales. All tribes are getting together to help rebuild after all the damage, and all those materials that Brendan purchased for the projects really came in handy. There haven't been structures that sturdy and stable built in Sauria for a long time. In fact, when Brendan was announced the winner, Tricky called me to tell him that his parents are very happy and grateful for all that he's done."

At this time, Ashley and Joan returned from their shopping trip, and met up with their husbands so they could prepare for the ceremony. The Smashers filed off and dissipated from the room, getting ready for the upcoming events as well. Knowing this ceremony would be the first of its kind, they wanted it to be a night to remember.

* * *

That night, the Smashers, many of their friends, and the special guests invited to attend and speak at the ceremony filed into the ball room. There were people from all Nintendian worlds present, creating a diverse mix of characters in the room. A stage was set up at the front and on it was a small podium. A picture of Brendan from his baseball days was hung from the ceiling. "I have a smaller version of that picture in my room," Yoshi said to Birdo and Shy Guy, two friends that he invited to the ceremony.

After some food and conversations with friends, guests, and the other nominees, the Hands moved to the stage and signalled for the ceremony to begin. They invited Brendan, Ashley, Jack, Yoshi Sr. and Yoshi to come onto the stage. "We are thrilled today to make Brendan our first ever honorary Smasher, and we have invited some of his closest friends and relatives to give us their speeches," Master Hand announced, "we will now let the speakers tell us about their experiences with our honorary Smasher."

The audience clapped as Yoshi Sr. took the podium. There, he spoke of his childhood memories, as he and Brendan went through school together, and all the times they helped each other. He spoke of Brendan as always being a pioneer, and not afraid to take risks. He even did things that Yoshi Sr. himself did not dared to do, such as baseball or running a store in San Francisco rather than in the Nintendian worlds. "There are those who ask why I chose not to be recognized with my brother," Yoshi Sr. said, "but if you think about it, despite being the big brother and always helping him when he's in need, Brendan is the only true risk taker, not afraid of travelling the road less taken. In the end, his results are always more rewarding. For that, I'm mighty proud of you, little bro."

Ashley was the next to speak. She described their relationship, and how Brendan believed that one must remain positive and willing to contribute. "No matter what, Brendan stuck by his firm conviction that to be a positive member of society, one must act positively, whether it's towards oneself or towards others. And I certainly felt that way when I'm around him," she described, "he never forgets that people came first, even if they are less fortunate than us. This is most evidently shown in his philanthropy to the orphanage in our block. We're all appreciative of his kind actions, and I'm sure if his parents were here today, they'd be proud too." Ashley looked at Brendan, who nodded in gratitude of the reference to his late parents.

Jack took the podium and spoke of his experiences with Brendan as a teammate and a friend. He mentioned Brendan's continued strive for improvement, and how he valued advice from anyone. "Brendan was always willing to improve himself, and wasn't afraid to take criticism, both positive and negative. This is why he became involved in humanitarian work, as he felt all people, regardless of their background and condition, could make that difference in his life. Whether it's for local organizations or going to other Nintendian worlds with his brother to improve others' lives, you have to remember that he did it to repay you for making him a better person," Jack explained, "And for the record, I got a call yesterday from our former baseball manager, and he told me he has long since forgiven Brendan for giving him all those grey hairs when we played in the major leagues." The crowd roared in laughter at that joke.

Finally, Yoshi stepped up and described his relationship to his uncle. He recalled all the great memories they had together, and how he grew up treating Brendan almost like his own father. "Having no children of his own, Uncle Brendan always said that he treated me like his own son. Even when we didn't live close to one another, and we saw each other only occasionally, I always felt that he was just as much a fatherly figure as my dad, and that's why I didn't hesitate to nominate him for this award," Yoshi turned to face his uncle, "with that, let's bring the first ever Honorary Smasher onto the podium. Uncle Brendan, come on up!"

The crowd erupted into applause as the large dinosaur got up and moved towards the podium, giving Yoshi a hug along the way. "You seemed calm," Yoshi commented. Brendan did not say anything to that remark, only smiling and nodding at his nephew.

As Yoshi returned to his seat on the stage and the crowd's applause died down, Brendan pulled out a set of index cards and ordered them on the podium. "First of all, I want to thank the previous speakers for their kind words about me, as it really means a lot to me that you took the time to speak of the moments we had together. Next, I want to extend my congratulations to the other nominees here with us tonight. I want to assure you that your contributions to society are just as great, if not greater, than mine."

Brendan glanced at his first card and began his speech, "You know, when I was first told of the nomination, I never bothered preparing anything, because I didn't believe I would win. I believed this would be a weekend where I get to meet the other nominees, listen to the winner's speech, and spend some quality time with my nephew. So when Yoshi phoned me again telling me that I won, you can imagine the shock I got. So when all those emotions settled, I finally got down to writing on what I wanted to say. At first it was nothing but drabbles, but finally I limited it to three things: what the award means to me, my reflections on how I got here, and something I came up with just the last day."

Brendan shuffled his cards, "First off, what does the award means to me? I feel that this award is a testament for my dedication and passion towards my life and work. Being somewhat of an immigrant is not always the best experience. Living in a new country, trying to fit in, making friends, sometimes even enemies, all those described my life. Throughout my childhood I had a simple view of the world, and I didn't realize the implications of my actions. At first I was nervous about meeting people because I was different, but then I made some friends. Then I felt maybe I can be everyone's friend, but ran into a bully. After gaining confidence on the school and playground I felt I could take on the world, but then I got a sobering reminder of my weakness at my first ball game."

He paused to turn over the card. "All my life, I went with the flow, and didn't really do things on my own. But thankfully, I had some very wonderful people who set the record straight. My dear parents, and my big brother, all showed me that it's not enough to sit there and let life grab your hand and walk you through situations. It's more useful if you actually walked yourself. I tried that as I grew up, slipping and falling multiple times along the way, but through it all, I felt a new sense of freedom. Whether it's making it to the major leagues, meeting my true love, dealing with a new business, or even helping those in need, I really felt that I could do these things on my own, and that I am rewarded for my efforts by making a difference in others' lives. That's when I realized what my family meant when I must learn to walk by myself: to actually look back at your achievements, and be there for others when they need a hand in reaching their goals."

The audience clapped politely at the conclusion of that point. Brendan moved on to the next part of his speech, "So what are my reflections? Well, visiting my childhood again, I can say I'm also fairly naïve, as I believed that the events of the world were just meant to be sometimes. I was in the starting line-up because I was a switch-hitter, I made it to UCLA because I had good recommendations, and I opened a business because I had nothing to do after I retired from baseball." Brendan got another laugh from the crowd with that line. "But I soon realized that all these things weren't just meant to be, as I had a huge amount of support from external sources when I do all these things. When I became a switch hitter, I only did it well because of countless hours of practice with my hitting coach. My acceptance to UCLA was because of my achievements in high school, all thanks to multiple hours of study with my teachers, peers, and family. And lastly, my business would not have been possible without inspiration from my wife, my brother, and even Jack, who offered me valuable advice, even when he knew nothing about business."

He flipped over another card, and continued, "This is what inspired me to think about others. My success was due to others helping me fulfill my dreams, so why can't I help others fulfill theirs? It's not wrong to be idealistic and reach for goals, but one must be realistic about actions to take, and sacrifices to make to reach them. When my brother wanted to start a project to share Yoshi's Island fruits with others, I saw it as my chance to give back. I wanted to showcase Yoshi's Island to San Francisco, allowing everyone to experience the best the island has to offer. I ensured that a percentage of the profits I received from the sales went directly back into the community, especially the homeless shelter and the orphanage down the street. I also went with my brother to other Nintendian worlds that we sold to and helped in humanitarian causes there. And just to guarantee that my efforts reached even Yoshi's Island itself, I had Jack and his wife Joan visit Yoshi's Island with me last year. Joan, being a criminologist and having a chemistry background, tested many factors of the island's environment. Thankfully, she found that our project and operation had no long-term or permanent damages to the ecosystem."

Again, the crowd applauded in approval. At this time, Brendan put away all his cards and spoke without a speech. "But the last, and perhaps the most important part of this acceptance speech, is one that comes directly from the heart, based on the experience I've had with you all the last couple of days. Earlier, I told you that I didn't expect myself to win, and that possibility did occur to me. Would I still be here enjoying my time with my nephew? If I hear the winner's speech, will I react the same way? Will I reflect on my life and efforts the same way? Those questions dogged me for a while, and then it hit me. When you strip away all the honour, glory, and the whole nine yards, what am I left with? Ultimately, I'm left with the only thing that matters to anyone: the memories."

Brendan felt some emotion creeping up at this time, but he pressed on. "Earlier when I took the podium, some people noticed that I was unusually clam. This is because somewhere, deep inside, I wanted to share these memories with you. I stand by my words when I felt the other nominees all contributed to society, some in ways greater than my own. That is why to me, the award is not the most important thing. The efforts I put into improving lives of orphans, certain Nintendians, and those less fortunate than myself; those efforts alone are reward enough for me. I cherish all the memories I have of my parents, my brother and I working and playing together, my friends throughout my school years, baseball games, first kiss, my store opening, and much more. I cherish the past few days of me finding out I've won the award, meeting the Smashers, seeing my nephew again, telling my stories to the Smashers, and to you. You have my deepest gratitude for being here and listening, and I welcome you all to share your memories with me when you come to San Francisco. After all, memories make us who we are, and motivates us to pursue our goals. I had a most wonderful time here, and enjoyed all of your company, and I sincerely wished to give you my thanks for the award, and the chance to let me share my experiences with you. Thank you, thank you, and thank you some more."

As his speech ended, Brendan backed up from the podium and took a deep bow, tears flowing freely from his eyes. The audience erupted into cheers, applauding and giving him a standing ovation. Brendan moved to the special guests, all with tears in their eyes. He gave each a big hug, and turned them all to face the back as the Hands unhooked his picture from the ceiling and placed it in a glass frame, destined for the Honorary Smasher hall. Nothing could take this moment away from Brendan and his friends.

* * *

"That's it, come on, work with me." It was a week after the ceremony, and Brendan already returned to San Francisco working as a regular storekeeper again. But this did not deter Yoshi from doing something special of his own in his room.

Mario heard the commotion and stuck his head into the room. "What are you doing, Yoshi?" he asked, looking at his dinosaur friend struggle with a picture frame.

"I wanted to do something that allows me to remember last week's moment for my uncle. What I'm doing isn't much, but I think it wraps up what he tried to say and what he truly meant to me," Yoshi explained, hanging up the picture.

Mario stepped in and looked at the picture with Yoshi. "I think it looks okay. I'm pretty sure most of the other Smashers would like it, and your uncle may find it a kind gesture too, when he sees it. Let's get the others to come see it, shall we?"

Mario and Yoshi left the room to go find the others. Indeed, hanging on the wall was the smaller version of the picture used in Brendan's ceremony. Yoshi had written near the bottom of the picture with a thin black marker:

**Uncle Brendan  
Former baseball player,  
Successful storekeeper,  
Philanthropist and humanitarian,  
And the World's Greatest Uncle.**

* * *

Well, that's the end of my first story. I do admit that it's a bit short, but considering that it's my first work, I say I did pretty well. I want to give my thanks to all those who inspired me, especially **Retchaka, **the first person to both finish and review the entire story. I valued all the advice and encouragement that you gave me, you can't possibly know how much it means to me.

I may have a sequel for this story, but it's still up in the air, as I haven't given it much thought. You may see it in the fall, if I'm lucky. Until then, happy reading and good luck writing!


End file.
